The Reverse Sweeptag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-812486424237565552012-05-03T12:36:54+01:00An acerbic and irreverent twist on the wonderful world of cricketTypePadThe mystery of Ajmal Shazad's sacking solvedtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0163051c697e970d2012-05-03T12:36:54+01:002012-05-03T12:36:54+01:00Perplexed? So were we. Just what made Yorkshire jettison the bowler that only last week coach Jason Gillespie described as "a fantastic bowler"? We've been investigating the possible reasons here at the Reverse Sweep. Secret Texts In a routine check on Shahzad's mobile phone, several congratulatory texts sent to Lancashire players in wake of their championship triumph last September were discovered and brought to the attention of Colin Graves. The chairman concluded it was a "bloody disgrace" and immediately reached for his axe. Names As a proud Englishman, Graves had previously presented Shahzad with an ultimatum to change his christian...The Reverse SweepCounty Championship 2012 Preview: Division 1 - Worcestershiretag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0168e94c653d970c2012-04-01T16:00:00+01:002012-04-04T16:36:31+01:00Odds-on favourites to go down even before they lost their first six games last season, Worcestershire somehow defied history and circumstance to escape the relegation trap-door and temporarily at least lose their yo-yo tag. Can they survive again in 2012? Strengths The knowledge that they can compete at this level ought to embolden a threadbare squad. If (and it's a big if) Phil Hughes can regain the form and confidence of his sojourn with Middlesex in 2009 then he will prove to be an inspired acquisition as overseas player. His fellow countryman Michael Klinger is a good choice until Hughes...The Reverse SweepPakistan vs England - Pakistan series marks out of 10tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b01630101e0ea970d2012-02-08T10:12:38+00:002012-02-08T10:12:38+00:00Mohammad Hafeez – 7 (190 runs at 38.00; 5 wickets at 16.00): Set the tone with the early dismissal of Cook on the first morning of the series and followed up with the bat in the first game and the ball in the second where he also snared Cook to set England’s pitiful 2nd innings collapse in motion. Taufeeq Umar – 3 (87 runs at 17.40): Started off the series well with a fifty as he and Hafeez set a national record with their fifth century opening stand. Struggled badly thereafter, firstly against Swann in Abu Dhabi and then versus...The Reverse Sweep3rd Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b016300d4c4dd970d2012-02-06T13:23:36+00:002012-02-06T13:23:36+00:00Mohammad Hafeez – 4: A quiet match for the Professor. Fell victim to the DRS on the first morning to a not out decision that should never been overturned on review. Missed a sweep shot second time round and bowled just five overs in the game. Taufeeq Umar – 2: A poor game for the opener with just six runs and he also dropped a dolly to reprieve Cook early in England’s run chase. Azhar Ali – 9: Mentored by Misbah and inspired by Younis in their mammoth stand, the youngster really came of age with a masterful exhibition of...The Reverse SweepIndia vs Pakistan Tests, if only...tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0167617ad969970b2012-02-01T12:43:03+00:002012-02-01T12:43:03+00:00This week 13 years ago saw the climax of an absolute classic of a Test match between India and Pakistan in Chennai. It was a game of twists and turns with the visitors looking to have gained the upper hand when India slipped to 81 for five chasing 271 to win before a certain Sachin Tendulkar cracked a wonderful hundred to take India within sight of victory. Then the final twist as the Little Master fell to Saqlain Mushtaq and the Indian tail was swept away with Pakistan winning by 12 runs. That was the first Test between the two...The Reverse Sweep2nd Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b01630038c8b3970d2012-01-30T10:14:33+00:002012-01-30T10:17:03+00:00Mohammad Hafeez - 8: After starring with the bat in Dubai, this time he contributed with the ball removing Strauss early on in the 1st innings and snaring the crucial wicket of Cook in the second after he had put England in a stranglehold with the new ball. A very fine all-round cricketer. Taufeeq Umar - 4: The early signs were good as he and Hafeez compiled another fifty opening stand on the first morning, but looked unsure against spin and heard the death rattle in both innings against Swann. Azhar Ali - 8: Courageous four hour 13 minute vigil...The Reverse SweepAn Arctic Tale starring Alastair Campbell, Andy Flower and the England cricket teamtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0168e5e37ee9970c2012-01-21T08:54:08+00:002012-01-21T10:03:28+00:00We were at an event the other night where Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell (a master of the Teesra long before Saeed Ajmal) gave the keynote address and shared with us a list of acronyms that he kept close to hand during his time in government. Number six or seven (we cannot remember exactly) was HAP, as in get your head above the parapet in times of crisis. That's exactly what England coach Andy Flower did the day after England's humiliating ten wicket defeat to Pakistan in the 1st Test in Dubai (a location that still doesn't sound quite...The Reverse Sweep1st Test: Pakistan vs England - Pakistan marks out of 10tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b016760bd8540970b2012-01-19T15:54:18+00:002012-01-19T15:59:28+00:00Mohammad Hafeez - 8 : Struck with his third ball to further embellish his golden arm tag. Batted beautifully but fell just 12 runs short of a deserved hundred after missing an attempted sweep off Swann. Had the honour of hitting the winning runs. Taufeeq Umar - 7: Notched up another fifty as part of his fifth century opening stand with Hafeez (a Pakistani record) before being undone by a peach of a ball from Broad to lose his off-stump. Azhar Ali - 1: Surprised early on by movement off the seam to feather an edge behind off Broad: a...The Reverse SweepCricket heroes: Saeed Ajmaltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0162ffc45ae9970d2012-01-18T09:00:00+00:002012-01-18T07:01:46+00:00This may seem a strange thing for an England supporter to write the day after a bowler has just taken seven for 55 against our country, but it just confirmed that we're big fans of Saeed Ajmal here at The Reverse Sweep. Ajmal adds a splash of colour to an otherwise obdurate and unusually attritional Pakistan side led by the calm and composed Misbah-ul-Haq. Off the pitch, the ebullient Ajmal understands theatre - one only needs to view his post-match interviews to see that. He also knows that he has got into the heads of the England batsmen, who simply...The Reverse SweepCricket memories of 2011: Pakistan rise from the abysstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b015438a2f5e8970c2012-01-03T09:30:00+00:002012-01-03T09:30:00+00:00For any other side the banning and eventual imprisonment of its former captain and two best bowlers coupled with the fact that for security reasons the team has to play its ‘home’ matches on foreign soil, an upturn in its fortunes would be more or less impossible. But Pakistan are not a normal cricket team. Following a successful tour to New Zealand, Pakistan performed admirably at the World Cup; sauntering to the semi-finals before losing to hosts India. Since then things have continued to improve under the calm leadership of Misbah-ul-Haq, who at this rate will emulate Imran Khan in...The Reverse SweepThe best Test XI of 2011tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0168e4a71517970c2011-12-30T08:29:55+00:002011-12-30T08:29:55+00:00Alastair Cook (927 runs at 84.27, 4 100s): Started off the year in Sydney with his third hundred of a prolific Ashes series before scoring runs for fun against Sri Lanka and then grinding India into submission with a monumental 294 at Edgbaston. Rahul Dravid (1145 runs at 57.25, 5 100s): We could have gone for either Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez as a specialist opener but instead we opt for the reluctant opener and highest Test run scorer of the year. 2011 was the year of Dravid's resurrection. Whether it was showing the Indian youngsters how to do it...The Reverse SweepWho should England pick to face Pakistan?tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b015437f7053a970c2011-12-07T08:52:39+00:002011-12-07T16:03:11+00:00It's been a long time since England played a Test match - 22nd August to be precise when they completed a resounding 4-0 victory over India at The Oval. Since then every other Test playing country - even regrettably Zimbabwe - have been in action whilst the likes of Andrew Strauss have taken to their sofas, inserted their pipes and caught up with the first series of Danish sensation Forbrydelsen (that's The Killing to you and us) on BBC 4. England's next assignment as they look to cement their position as the number one ranked side is in the unlikely...The Reverse SweepAfter 827 days, finally some good news for West Indies crickettag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b01538e839e55970b2011-05-16T11:25:00+01:002011-05-16T11:57:29+01:00It seems an eon since West Indies bowled out England for 51 at Sabina Park in the first match of the Strauss and Flower regime. Since that rather ignominious day on 7th February 2009, England has bounced back to win Ashes series’ home and away and become World T20 champions. The fortunes of the victors of that Kingston Test have sadly gone in completely the opposite direction. What has heralded at the time as a turning point in the fortunes of West Indian cricket, became yet another false dawn. So it was heartening that 827 days and 18 Tests later,...The Reverse SweepCounty Championship Preview - Division 1: Worcestershiretag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0147e3b479a0970b2011-04-04T11:30:00+01:002011-04-04T11:30:00+01:00Against all odds Worcestershire were promoted from Division 2 last summer despite having lost the likes of Gareth Batty, Steven Davies, Stephen Moore and Kabir Ali before the season even began. Strengths Vikram Solanki is a loyal servant and regular runs contributor and Saeed Ajmal looks a good choice of overseas star for the second half of the season, but the rest of the squad has a distinctly journeymen look about it. Weaknesses Worcester are very good at getting promoted, but very bad at not immediately getting relegated back to whence they came - in fact they are the ultimate...The Reverse SweepEngland vs Pakistan: 4th test - Pakistan marks out of ten tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0133f36f27b2970b2010-08-31T11:55:48+01:002010-08-31T13:10:25+01:00When England were 102 for seven just after lunch on Friday, the Pakistan team were in ecstasy as they contemplated completing their fightback to draw the series with England. But ecstasy turned to agony as first Jonathan Trott's and Stuart Broad's partnership and then a spineless batting display condemned Pakistan to their biggest ever test defeat. Then came the ignominy of the spot-fixing scandal, which could end the careers of a number of their side if the allegations are proven. So, it may seem churlish and unimportant now to cast our marks out of ten for the Pakistan XI who...The Reverse SweepEngland vs Pakistan: 3rd test - Pakistan marks out of ten tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0133f33fb1d3970b2010-08-23T08:23:45+01:002010-08-23T08:23:46+01:00Spirit in the Pakistan camp is obviously high given that they were able to put heavy defeats at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston behind them to bounce back with avengeance at the Oval. Pakistan sides of recent vintage would have descended into chaos and recrimination after two such crushing defeats, so captain Salman Butt and coach Waqar Younis should take a lot of credit for avoiding this. Pakistan will now believe that they can square the series at Lord's and have a number of factors in their favour. Mohammad Yousuf has added calmness and solidity to the batting and his influence...The Reverse SweepThe Boundary View: England vs Pakistan, The Oval, Day Threetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0133f3339c91970b2010-08-21T08:00:00+01:002010-08-20T22:10:59+01:00In a topsy-turvy day, England wrested control of the match by tea before some magnificent bowling from Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal inspired a batting collapse that once again left Pakistan in firm control of the test by the time bad light ended day prematurely at the end of the third day at The Oval. The new Wasim? According to his passport, Mohammad Aamer is only 18, which if true is frightening because he is already one hell of a bowler. It is too early to compare him to Wasim Akram, who along with Malcolm Marshall is the best fast...The Reverse SweepEngland vs Pakistan: 2nd test - Pakistan marks out of tentag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0133f2f1e566970b2010-08-09T21:11:18+01:002010-08-09T21:11:19+01:00Another defeat for Pakistan looked inevitable right from Salman Butt's foolhardy call at the toss. Butt's move was intended to be a positive one, but the negative strokeless approach of Pakistan's batsmen was always likely to be ill-advised and so it proved as they fell to an embarrassing 72 all out. Pakistan could have collapsed into disarray after that, but they didn't and Butt must take some credit for that. His side fought back on both the second and third days to first restrict England to 251 after at one time being 177 for two. Then the lower order resisted...The Reverse SweepThe Boundary View: England vs Pakistan, Edgbaston - 2nd Test Day 2tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a0120a735b61b970b0134860f1764970c2010-08-08T08:30:00+01:002010-08-08T08:30:00+01:00It was a brave fightback by Pakistan yesterday. Salman Butt's side may be deficient in a number of areas, but it would seem lack of spirit is not one of them. But their batsmen are going to have to produce something special to first avoid an innings defeat and then set England some sort of target, especially with conditions weighted so heavily towards the bowlers. The main views from the boundary yesterday included: The lucky battler It certainly wasn't a classic Kevin Pietersen innings but it could prove to be one of his most important as the time he spent...The Reverse Sweep